Certainly

The dean finds himself in his office on the phone with Hoit, once again demanding the readings from the NGO group. The dean isn’t even sure it exists, at least in any sort of namable sense. The email, as it turns out, came from within the school, and there’s no one enrolled named ‘Babs.’

None of this matters to Hoit.

“I don’t care, and I don’t need to explain myself. Don’t forget your overarching responsibilities. You know as well as I do the consequences are of mortal consideration.”

The dean can picture the blonde man sitting there on the other end of the phone, gemstones hovering in front of his face. He assures Hoit of a response soon and hangs up, exhaling. These constant reminders of his function are annoying. He is certainly not headmaster outside of the school.

“Who was that?” The question comes from the only occupant in the administrator’s office, a friend and co-worker, Dr. Femer. The philosophy professor finds himself staring into old photograph he has taken down from its position with the others hanging on the wall. Dr. Femer often hangs out in the office to kill time, but he has never noticed this particular photograph before.

“That was...no one.”

Femer forces a laugh, somewhat insulted. “Um...” Ignoring his preoccupied friend he stares at the picture further. It is an old black and white photo of thirteen men standing in the courtyard what looks to be some time ago. The professor does not recognize any of these individuals --the picture has no marking-- but he cannot not help but be taken with the intensity in which they stare back at him. That human energy is something he finds lacking in pupils these days. “So did you hear about the proposed theorem to the Happy Ending Problem?”

“Yes, I heard about it, somewhat.” The dean rubs his forehead, slightly impatient with the small talk. He needs to succeed with his problem rather than engage in the success of another. He wonders if he can get an email trace from Bell, or maybe even Charlie’s number? Something, hopefully.

Dr. Femer waits for the headmaster to say more, which does not occur. “I guess you’re not that impressed,” he says, rolling his eyes.

“What do you want me to say? It was one of many unsolved problems. All problems have solutions. I mean really, there is nothing new under the sun. The physical laws haven’t changed since the inception. I would bet it’s all been figured out several times over by now.”

“There is always something new: a life, like Meredith, for example. Apparently she is quite the young eccentric...”

“My friend, you are right: a life hangs in the balance here.”

Dr. Femer exhales at the sarcasm, putting the picture back up on the wall. “So who was that?”